Would you guess it? There were two Virginia Summer Solstice Farm Dinner’s on June 20th. And both were hosted by top chefs from the area! A while back, I bought tickets to one of the dinners hosted by Chef Tony Chittum of Vermillion. My friends, who I suggested should come along, bought tickets to a similar dinner hosted by Chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve. Our only communication after this separate purchasing was about car-pooling to the event, ignorant to the fact there were two separate dinners – our e-mails were only titled “Virginia Summer Solstice Farm Dinner.” Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the wrong dinner – too late to drive to the other. After a somewhat cold reception from a French woman – surprise – we discovered there were only two tickets available for purchase. Off to the ATM! (A difficult task in the middle of nowhere Virginia!) Finally, after handing over an obscene amount of money (for the second time), we sauntered up the hill to begin our Solstice extravaganza as presented by Chef Armstrong.
I could write all day about the wines of the evenings. Local to the Rappahannock region, they were true Virginia. I’ll highlight one; the Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc (2007) was just as this wine should be – rich, full bodied, and, dare I say it, world class. To start, however, we drank a delicious blueberry Wasmund’s Rye cocktail. The rye, from the Copper Fox Distillery, is 100 percent American made, one barrel at a time (or so the brochure tells me). After the incidents of just a few minutes earlier, the comedy of errors, I was desperate for a drink. With a rye in one hand, and a Rappahannock Cellars Seyval Blanc (2008) in the other, I strode up to the tent for dinner.
Placed on top of a small hill, gorgeous views of green, lush mountains enveloped us. As guests scurried to claim a seat that would best showcase the impending sunset, my party plopped down and enjoyed the moment. A beautiful breeze blew and the food began. We started with a lovely smoked trout salad with horseradish vinaigrette. Although the white dollops were first mistaken for goat cheese, the confusion was quickly overcome by the pure genius of the dish.
Our next course was roasted loin of lamb served over a daube of braised shoulder. The lamb was raised on the very farm where we were eating, the Mount Vernon Farm of Sperryville. It was nicely cooked without a hint of gaminess. Now, I am not a lamb eater by nature, but this was wonderful. And I’m sure the meal was only enhanced by the setting sun. When the sun went down, out came the cheese course – an Everona Piedmont. As it turns out, it was sourced at the farm of a man sitting to our left. A gentleman farmer, he had just returned from a cheese tasting tour of Montenegro. I don’t know what to say about that.
For dessert, a bread pudding with cherries. Not so good. For the first time during the event, I was reminded that the food was being reheated and not cooked directly on site. It was crusty on top – in that dried out kind of way. But by that point in the evening, the wine had flowed, the food had been wonderful, the butter a divine inspiration, and the outdoor kitchen was in the dark. Je t’excuse! After such a harrowing adventure upon arrival, the evening ended in perfect splendor.
AEK
